Baby Trouble
by BonneyQ
Summary: Gray and Juvia are taking care of Natsu and Lucy's son for a couple of days and someone is terrified of babies. Will things change for them while the small Igneel Dragneel stays at their house? [Gruvia; OneShot]


**AN:** This is for **shikax3**, who gave me the plot bunny! It's probably the opposite of what you asked, but I hope you like it anyways.

Very **OOC** – sorry about that –; I wanted to make something different and unexpected.

_**Summary:**__ Gray and Juvia are taking care of Natsu and Lucy's son for a couple of days and _someone_ is terrified of babies. Will things change for them while the small Igneel Dragneel stays at their house?_

**#**

**Baby Trouble**

**#**

"You _really_ need to calm down; Igneel is just a baby."

"Yes, and we never had a baby for a sleepover before!"

"Stop being so afraid of him; he'll just stay for two days and one night."

"Children are fragile and babies are even _more_ fragile. Juvia doesn't have experience with them: they don't like heer."

Gray rolled his eyes when the words left his wife's mouth. He never thought it could be possible, since Juvia was very good with children, but the Water Mage was _terrified_ of babies. As she said, it wasn't like she knew many small kids anyway. Currently the only one she had contact with was Igneel Dragneel, who was going to spend the day and night with the couple.

Igneel was Lucy and Natsu's ten-months-old son; he had his father's messy pink hair and smile, but his mother's brown kind eyes. Crazily enough, Ig seemed to like Gray a lot and the Ice Mage liked the kid right back

"Really? I assume that you already imagined _us_ with kids; so tell me this: that will happen when we have one?"

"Actually, Juvia pictured our daughter… She was about four or five." The woman smiled, recalling her thoughts about the little girl with midnight blue hair like Gray's and a hairstyle just like hers playing on a swing.

"_Five?_ No baby version?" Gray was often amused by his wife's imagination and that was one of those moments.

"It will be Gray-sama's job, Juvia guess." She shrugged.

The Ice Mage scoffed. "Don't count on it." He frowned. "I still don't understand what's so terrifying about babies; they throw up and stink from time to time, but you saw me drunk a enough times and that's exactly how I end up."

"They…" Juvia sighed. "They are too soft, fragile and anything can go wrong. Did you know that they have a place on their heads that if you press it hard enough, they _die_?" The Water Mage shuddered. "Babies have _destruction buttons_, Gray-sama."

"Come _on_, it's not like you're going to hit the kid on the head." Gray couldn't believe his ears.

"And when Juvia is around, they cry."

"Babies cry all the time; it's how they let us know that they want something." Her husband sighed. "You'll see when Igneel arrive."

"Juvia doesn't know how come you are not worried with his arrival."

"The kid likes me; I have nothing to worry about." Gray shrugged.

"And _Juvia_ does because he doesn't like her!" The blunette said and before he could answer, she was leaving the room.

"Come on, I didn't say that… and you left." Gray was going to follow her, but decided against it. She would calm down before the Dragneels arrived.

**#**

"…and he takes a bottle before sleeping and when he wakes up in the morning. He'll eat pretty much anything for lunch." Lucy said as she handed the infant to Gray. Igneel cheered when saw the Ice Mage and immediately threw his arms up to the older man.

"Just like his dad." Natsu said and laughed and just like always, his son accompanied him.

"Yes, yes." The blonde woman rolled her eyes. "He has enough clothes for two days and he won't fuss much during the night, he sleeps through it now." Lucy nudged her husband, and he gave the backpack with the child's possessions to the blue haired woman in front of them; the Stellar Spirit Mage, then, stared at Juvia. "Thanks for watching him."

"Our pleasure." Juvia said and the woman congratulated herself, since her voice didn't show how nervous she was. Usually, when she found herself with Igneel in her arms, she had comfort in knowing that his mother was close by in case the baby fussed. _Or leaked_. But for two days, it would be just her, Gray and Igneel.

"Well, you guys seem to have everything under control." Lucy looked pointedly at Gray and he nodded, understanding the meaning of it. "We'll be off, then."

He was worried about Juvia's panic when Igneel started to whimper when she was around and would walk away to make sure she was not the cause and there were times when the blonde woman would finally make Juvia take the child, but as soon as Igneel fussed, the Water Mage would give him to whoever was close and then run away.

Seeing that the trouble seemed to be with children younger than three years old, Gray talked to Lucy about him and his wife being the next babysitters of the young boy.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine." Gray said looking down to the child. "Say good bye, Igneel." The boy raised a tiny hand and waved at his parents. Lucy leaned and gave him a kiss on the cheek as Natsu messed with the boy's hair.

"Be good and I love you, Ig." The blonde woman said and then turned to leave with her husband by her side, waving to the other couple.

"Mama?" The little boy asked when his parents were no longer in sight. Juvia turned to look at Igneel and noticed his lower lip shaking; the imminent cry was more than evident. Panicking, Juvia put the bag on the floor.

"Well, we need… bread. Juvia will go buy some bread." The woman said, nervously.

"Juv-…" Gray tried to intervene but a loud cry from Igneel (who kept calling his mama and papa) cut him off.

"Won't take too long." The blunette said, running from their apartment (and when she got out on the street, she took the opposite path from Natsu and Lucy, of course).

With a crying child and a missing wife, Gray thought that he would regret planning the reunion. He sighed and retreated to his apartment to soothe Igneel and wait for Juvia's return.

**#**

Untrue to her word, Juvia took a lot longer to take the bread – with she returned _without_ – and when she returned, Gray had managed to calm Igneel down and even gave the pink haired boy a few biscuits for snacks.

When she was back home, Juvia apologized for freaking out. Her husband sighed and brushed her apologies away, it was fine for him either way: he knew that she was bound to be a little scared; he just never thought that she was going to run away.

"I'm going to take a shower." Gray told his wife and then pointed to the toddler, who was sitting on the living room's floor and happily playing with some blocks. "Take care of him, okay?"

"What?" Juvia's eyes widened as she yelled/whispered. "But, but…"

"Come on." Gray laughed softly. "The kid is fed and is happily playing with his blocks; I am giving you the easiest task there is: just sit by his side, that's it." When the Ice Mage saw her bit her lower lip in apprehension, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it lightly. "You'll be fine and I'll be in the bathroom, it's not like I am leaving the apartment." After a moment, she nodded and went to sit by the boy's side. Igneel smiled to her and offered a block, which Juvia accepted after a second.

Seeing that both were fine, Gray went to take a shower. After five minutes or so, the Ice Mage heard the door opening and then his wife's voice.

"Hm… Gray-sama?"

"Yes?" He answered, sliding the shower curtain to the side so he could face her.

"Igneel's… stinking. _Real _bad." Juvia informed and after a moment, Gray understood what it meant.

"He needs a diaper change." The couple stared at each other for a few moments, neither moving to get the child – Gray was used to walk around naked, but he was _not_ stepping out of the shower to change a dirty diaper –. Once it was clear that Gray wasn't moving, Juvia decided to break the silence.

"Well… aren't you going to…?" She asked while pointing outside, in the general direction of the living room.

"I changed him when you were out; it's your turn." The man shrugged and closed the curtain again and couldn't help but smile at her despair. He shouldn't, _really_ shouldn't, but he felt as if the universe was avenging him for the earlier running away from his wife.

Gray took his time under the water: that was a shower he was _not_ in a hurry to finish.

**#**

After his shower – he took almost half an hour under the water, he really didn't want to get in the middle of Juvia trying to change a diaper –, before he could look at her properly, Juvia stepped inside the bathroom and locked herself in there for fifteen minutes.

Gray decided that Juvia probably suffered enough with the diaper changing – the Ice Mage checked her job and decided that it was good enough; Lucy had taught him how to do it, since he got the job as Igneel's godfather – and started to make dinner. Nothing too difficult: heating the food Juvia left ready was easy enough.

The Water Mage returned from her shower and sat at the couch in front of Igneel. The child mumbled some baby nonsense and looked at Juvia in question. The woman smiled softly and agreed to whatever the child was going on about. Happy with the answer, Igneel returned his attention to his toys.

"You seem more… _comfortable_ around him." Gray said leaning on the kitchen's doorframe and looking at their interaction.

The blunette shrugged. "Juvia saw Igneel naked, dirty and he peed on her. We kind of… _bonded _after that."

Gray laughed and went to sit by her side while the food was heating up. The man wrapped an arm around her shoulders, kissing her cheek during the process. He knew that his wife just needed to get used to the idea that babies were more resilient than she thought and that she didn't scare them off by just being there.

It was clear that she wanted a family. And at the age of twenty-six, so did Gray.

**#**

Igneel, surprisingly, liked to take baths and gave the couple no trouble at all: splashing the water around and when the blunette used her magic to move the water around the boy, Igneel laughed and Juvia giggled while Gray stared at the scene in front of him.

He already knew that she was good with children, Asuka seemed to like the blunette just fine, but her silly fear of babies and the fact that she didn't get too much time with them (really, everyone wanted to hold the baby and gave her little time to get used to the idea) but now that Igneel was close to her for hours without interruption, she seemed to be relaxing.

After having his bottle – Gray did it while Juvia arranged the bed for the pink haired boy –, Igneel's brown eyes began to get heavy. The Ice Mage offered the child his green pacifier and the boy gladly accepted.

"The room is ready." Juvia said quietly and her husband nodded, getting up from the couch with a sleepy Igneel in his arms.

"Are you ready to go to bed, kid?" Gray asked the boy while walked towards the extra room, where his wife prepared it to accommodate Igneel. Especially for that occasion the couple moved the bed close to the wall so Igneel couldn't fall off of it and then put many pillows on the other side to try and have the same effect.

When Gray was putting Igneel on the mattress, the child raised his arms towards Juvia and started whimpering. The Ice Mage tried to calm the child down, but Igneel kept trying to get the blue haired woman to lie beside him.

"He wants you." The Ice Mage shrugged and got up from the bed while his wife hesitated.

"But…"

"He'll cry more if you don't. Just be by his side." Gray grabbed her hand and led towards the bed, he sat on a corner of the bed. "Sing something, or just talk. He's tired and will sleep soon."

Juvia nodded and lie down on the bed and Igneel easily cuddled against her; his head settled on the crook of her neck and the blunette thought he looked absolutely adorable wearing his green onesie – Juvia thought that it was probably of Natsu's choice, since it had a hood with a dragon face; Igneel was a cure little dragon – and the Water Mage's heart warmed up with the sight.

"Mamamama?" The boy mumbled, his pacifier almost falling.

"Yes, sweetie, you want your mama, don't you?" Juvia whispered softly and patting Igneel's back. "She'll be back tomorrow."

"Papa."

"Your papa too, of course." The blue haired woman kissed the top of the child's head. "You are not too scary now, are you? You just miss your mother and father." Igneel mumbled something once again and Juvia chuckled softly. "You are a talker and you just started mumbling words."

Gray watched as Juvia relaxed and started to talk while the boy played with a strand of her hair and he couldn't help but to smile at them; he knew she had it on her, Juvia just needed time to open up. The Ice Mage put a hand on her knee and when his wife looked in his direction, Gray pointed to the door, signing that he would be on their bedroom. The blunette nodded and the man got up on his feet and left the bedroom.

Fifteen minutes later, Gray was lying on their bed, reading a magazine about motorcycles and was wondering if he should check on Juvia and Igneel or let her handle the child by herself. He was about to get up when she showed up.

And she was not alone: in her arms, the already asleep child. Gray raised an eyebrow and watched as his wife settled the boy by the Ice Mage's side, in the middle of the bed.

"What's going on?" Gray asked when Juvia left Igneel and started to change into her night clothes.

"We are _not_ leaving him sleeping there all alone. He's scared. What would _you_ feel if you woke up somewhere you don't know?" The blunette took off her dress and put one of Gray's old shirts.

"But… here with _us_?" The Ice Mage stared down to the child and without realize, he reached to caress the boy's pink hair.

"Yes." He heard his wife.

"Fine." Gray sighed. "It'll be your fault if I crush him."

Juvia turned around and stared at Gray with the sleeping child by his side. The Ice Mage had put an arm around the boy and returned to read his magazine.

"You look so natural with him." The Water Mage said, leaning against the wardrobe door.

"Like you don't." Gray rolled his eyes and then looked away from the pages, towards his wife. "You were scared of babies, but you are as good with him as Lucy is."

"Don't say that."

"It's true; you have sharp maternal instincts, you just needed to put your skills into action."

"So…" The blue haired woman sighed, "is it okay to say that we could start to try and have one?" Juvia bit her lower lip in apprehension and Gray smiled. He always knew that she wanted to have a family with him, but when she thought about babies not liking her, she became scared and even though they were married for two years, she still took medicine to prevent getting pregnant.

"It's more than okay." Gray assured his wife. He got up from the bed and walked towards her, wrapping his arms around her waist and almost bursting with happiness. Truth be told, he wanted to have a child with Juvia; and if in an unlikely scenario she didn't feel up to the task, it would be okay as well. But Gray knew his wife; and she just needed to overcome her fear.

The only worry Gray would have later would be to tell her that they should _stop_ popping little Ice and Water Mages onto the world. He would definitely put a limit to three.

"But you know that Igneel's almost a year old now, right?" Gray asked softly. "A baby, a _real_ baby, will cry all the time, and need diaper changes. You said so yourself that you imagined us with a child, but she was older, there's a long way before that."

"Yes." The blunette nodded. "But… you'll be there and you were _so_ amazing with Igneel. Plus, Juvia already felt so much with him around; imagine what would be like to have one of our own?"

"Okay then." Gray kissed his wife's forehead. "We have plenty of time to decide and make plans, but it's nice to see that you don't fear the destruction button anymore."

"Oh, Juvia's still terrified of that." The woman chuckled. "She doesn't think she'll stop being afraid of it anytime soon."

"We need a younger baby for you to train with."

"Well… Juvia has in a good word that _someone_ is going to provide it." The blue haired woman said happily; tip toeing and kissing her husband on the lips.

"What? Who?" Gray asked surprised, since he didn't hear any rumors.

"Levy-san."

"Holy shit." The man was properly surprised: Gajeel was always so strict, saying that he didn't want any brats, but there he was, impregnating his girlfriend. Unless… "Wait, is it Gajeel's?"

"What? Of course it is." Juvia laughed.

"Sorry, my mind was just blown." He said and then grabbed her hand, leading the woman towards the bed. "I need to lie down."

"It's not _that_ strange." The Water Mage tried to argue.

"It is." Gray carefully arranged himself so Igneel would be safe between him and Juvia. "But this is a freaky show I am _not_ missing it."

"There _won't_ be a freaky show." She insisted and then leaned in to kiss Gray on the lips and then kissed Igneel's chubby cheek.

"We'll see." Gray laughed.

**#**

The next day, Juvia was woken up by a grinning Igneel; even with his pacifier still in his mouth, Juvia could see that he was smiling widely and she couldn't help but to smile back at him.

"Uwia." He said as soon as he noticed that the woman opened her eyes and for a moment, Juvia couldn't believe her ears. She knew that at that age, babies would mostly babble and say a few words, but her name to be one of those words?

She took the boy in her arms and ran to the kitchen, where Gray was heating Igneel's bottle. He was only wearing boxers and had a sleepy face, but Juvia could just jump him right then; there was something incredibly sexy about a man who was willing to take care of a child.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia said excitedly. "Igneel…"

"Did he wake you up? Sorry, I put him on the couch, but he's walking now and I had to prepare his bottle…"

"Yes, but that's not the point!" She jumped up and down a few times, making the baby laugh. "He said Juvia's name."

"Uwia!" Igneel clapped his tiny hands and the woman shrieked in happiness.

"Did you hear that? He just called Juvia's name _again_!"

"I heard." Gray chuckled even though he heard more of baby babble than his wife's name.

"Aw!" The woman gave the child a kiss on the cheek. "You are _so_ sweet, Ig."

Gray narrowed his eyes when he noticed that Juvia did not give him their usual morning make out session; sure, there was a baby with them, but she could at least give him a good-morning kiss – which she didn't –, instead, she went to change Igneel's diaper and asked Gray to bring the bottle once it was ready.

For the rest of the day, as much as Gray liked to watch Juvia interact with Igneel, he didn't like to be put aside after so many years of being his wife priority. He felt incredibly silly of being somewhat jealous – he would _never_ say it out loud – of all the attention a 10-months-old child was having.

They played during Igneel's bath and then they went to have a stroll at the park; Gray felt like they would do it a lot in the future. It was nice to know that his plan worked.

Maybe too well: later that night Gray was supposed to return Igneel to his parents, but Juvia was being a problem. After hugging the child for about half an hour, she finally let him go and Gray got him on his arms.

"Bye, Ig." She said softly. The boy frowned, but raised a hand and waved.

"Byebye Uwia"

"Aw, Gray-sama… Can't we keep him another night?" The blunette looked at Gray with big puppy eyes exactly like she did a few years back when she found a lost puppy and asked it to stay with them until they found the owner – which they did, three days, a ruined pair of boots and lots of poop around the apartment later –, but there was a very big difference from a puppy and a baby.

"He's _not_ ours, Juvia. Lucy and Natsu want their son back, they miss him." Gray informed her and he saw her eyes start to sparkle with unshed tears. "Oh, _come on_, don't cry!"

"Bu-bu-but he's leaving!" The Water Mage sobbed."

"To his _house_, not to another country; you'll see him tomorrow." Her husband sighed when Juvia started to cry again; that would be a long good-bye.

**#**

During all the way from the apartment he shared with his wife to the Dragneel's house, Igneel babbled and Gray pretended to understand what he was talking so excitedly about but when they arrived at the house and his parents opened the door, it was obvious what the child said.

"Mama! Papa!"

"Hey, young man!" Natsu opened his arms and the boy threw himself from Gray's arms towards his father's.

"Take your son away."

"What is it?" Lucy raised an eyebrow, questioning Gray's tone.

"Juvia's became attached; she pays more attention to him than to me now." The Ice Mage said grumpily.

"Don't be silly, Gray. It's _Juvia._" The blonde giggled, taking her son from her friend and hugging him tightly, whispering how much she missed him.

"Yeah, well… At least she's not afraid of babies anymore. I don't think we'll be having one soon – I guess that it takes a while –, she can train her skills with Igneel, though." Gray shrugged and gave Natsu the backpack with his son's things.

"You _like_ being pampered and being her favorite boy; couldn't even handle her dividing attention with my son." Natsu said, laughing and the Ice Mage rolled his eyes with the other man's words – even if they were true (he would have to lower the _three_ children to just _one_ child, otherwise he would never have alone time with the Mrs again).

"Oh, shut up you idiot. Bye, Lucy." Gray told the woman and then messed with the child's pink hair. "Bye, Ig."

"Byebye." Igneel waved and Gray felt bad about leaving the kid with his own parents (as crazy as it sounded). Yeap, he became attached as well, just like Juvia. It were just two days, but it made him taste a little of what family life could bring him.

Maybe the Baby Locker-Fullbuster needed to make itself appear sooner rather than later.

**#**

**AN:** Oh, god: I feel like I am running out of 'baby ideas' and just went cuckoo, playing the 'Juvia is terrified of babies' card. I mean, I liked the One Shot, but as I said before, it _is_ OOC.

Thank you for reading! What did you think? :D

10/21/2013 ~ **BonneyQ**


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